The ideals of the nation set against the realism of what the nation has become and must do to continue or what it thinks it must do to continue.

Dunno what to say here, what i see is liberty looking at a video game and having a moment of not differentiating between reality and what you do in your day to day life and what you do to blow off steam in escapism. For example i know a 12 year old choir boy who does a lot of volunteer work and is a really nice person in his public life! I have never heard more racist and hateful things come out of any living person's mouth when he plays modern warfare online.

Still is sam mad? is he more "wtf?" I'm willing to bet at the end he doesn't know what he did wrong

Yes, and if it weren't a game, she'd have a point. In this case however, I can't side with her in any way, because she's just throwing a tantrum over something stupid, and ruining Sam's progress for no valid reason. And even for the tantrum, it would be okay, if it weren't for the method.

I don't like saying this, but she's being a total b*tch at this point.

The metaphor... It went so over your head it's incredible.

But besides that, Liberty's clearly concerned about Sam. She sees that for him it's not only a game. It's a fantasy. He wants to be the avatar, as hinted in panel 5.

Well, violence in videogames has always been a persistent question. However, I can clearly see that "video game" here is the same thing as "porn" in the previous strip, which is a bit surprising to mash together.

But, it's not the game's fault that Sam "wants to be that avatar". There is no one else to blame but him. With a past like this, I'm surprised Liberty ended up with him.

I do think "video games" and "porn" in the previous strip are serving the same function in their respective strips. I don't think you've understood what that function is, at all.

this isn't a strip about how video games in general or even GTA in specific are bad. It's a strip about how police states, imperialism and human rights abuses are bad, and how Liberty, being Liberty, is opposed to and disturbed by Sam's desire to do those things.

And there's no "irony" in that or whatever, believing in Liberty does not equate to believing in the "freedom" to oppress others. Of course she's opposed, that doesn't make her controlling. It makes her opposed to oppressive control and Sam's desire to wield it.

The ideals of the nation set against the realism of what the nation has become and must do to continue or what it thinks it must do to continue.

Dunno what to say here, what i see is liberty looking at a video game and having a moment of not differentiating between reality and what you do in your day to day life and what you do to blow off steam in escapism. For example i know a 12 year old choir boy who does a lot of volunteer work and is a really nice person in his public life! I have never heard more racist and hateful things come out of any living person's mouth when he plays modern warfare online.

Still is sam mad? is he more "wtf?" I'm willing to bet at the end he doesn't know what he did wrong

First of all, it's really not possible to keep your bigotry from showing in your actions in some way, so I wouldn't say it's OK to be a bigot as long as you try to hide it. I don't mean it's not OK in the sense that we should string people up for thought crime, I mean it's not OK in the sense that it's unethical and one should strive to be conscious and improve.

But that's all supposing that video game communities are some kind of fantasy world that doesn't affect real people and that's bullshit. Like, 50% of gamers are PoC and/or women. You think being subjected to that environment just because you want to enjoy a hobby is acceptable? Do you think blithely and callously subjecting your fellow humans to that kind of treatment for your own mild amusement is acceptable? Well, that's kind of fucked up.

Gamer communities are communities of real people. Real people are being harmed by behavior like that and it's not cute or insignificant.

And it doesn't matter that the individual in question might be a child. If 12 year old brown children and 12 year old girl children and 12 year old queer children are old enough to be harmed by bigotry, then 12 year old white/male/straight children are old enough to learn that there are(or should be) consequences for being a bigot, and that it's wrong to treat people like that.

Studies have not proven a conclusive link connecting violent video games with real-life aggression. A lot of studies on both sides have been poorly undertaken and/or are biased. However, the FBI currently does not believe that video games cause violence and aren't taken into account when profiling a typical shooter.

Secondly, the point people seem to be missing is that this comic isn't about playing a video game (making my previous statement moot anyways). The problem is that Sam aspires to be like his video game counterpart - and is most of the way there, to be honest. And therein lies the problem - Sam doesn't play the game for enjoyment, or to escape to a fantasy world; he plays it because he aspires to turn real life into that fantasy.

tl;dr: Enjoying violent video games isn't bad, but aspiring to be like them is._________________Juke Joint Jezebel

He can play at all the torture and war that he wants. It's just that Liberty will have nothing to do with it.

I'm surprised some of the dudebros around here are so dense they can't figure that out.

If liberty "wil have nothing to do with it" she should have just got up and LEFT , not fuck his game up and then leave.
If i don't like your ideas i don't smash up your car and then walk away.

Funny how everyone who disagrees with you is automatically a "dudebro", whatever the hell that means.

Yes, because unplugging a game he can turn right back on is analogous to destroying personal property.

Keep making those leaps in logic. It really helps your argument, lol.

Technically, she ruins the result of gameplay time from the last save point. While a 12 year old probably won't use their time to earn enough to afford a car in this amount of time, she's still ruining the result of time investment (and time can be money), so yes, she screws stuff up in the same manner as setting a car on fire.

Also laughing at the 'it's just a game' nonsense. Brb, I'll make a game with black women who beat up white guys and cut off their dicks. Why so offended? It's just a game!

I can make a black woman who beats up a lot of white men while wielding a large purple dick bat in Saints Row 3, does that count?

Also, I believe someone's ripping off Tat here. or not, probably not. But damn it all if that isn't the Sam represented most... although this one could be a black woman as well if you wanted it to be like that.